--Games
   unique
   to this site!-

Skarney-- John Scarne’s scoring rummy

Skarney Gin-- Scarne’s gin rummy

Sequence Gin-- gin rummy variant

The Big Game-- 42 with 11 tricks

42 variations-- we’ve got them all

Quinto-- unusual fun game from 1900

Marjolet-- one-deck Bezique from France

Jo-Jotte-- complex Bridge-like game for two

Domino Euchre-- Euchre with dominoes

Call-Ace Domino Euchre-- variant

Iceberg-- unique scoring rummy

Arlington Hts-- our own invention

Fortune Rummy-- lost since the 1940s


--42 family
  Dominoes--

42 -- the parent game

The Big Game -- 42 with 11 tricks instead of 7

42 Variations -- including 80, 88, 84, 79, Nello, Plunge, and Sevens

Moon -- 3 player relative to 42

Partnership Moon -- 4 player Moon


---Cuban
   Games---

Cubilete -- Great Cuban dice game

Domino Cubano --
Dominoes, Cuban-
style


---Dice
   Games--

Farkle-- Among the   best dice games, it dates back hundreds of years

Farkle-- Another version of the rules to this great dice game.

Cubilete -- Great Cuban dice game


--Games by
  John Scarne-

Skarney Gin-- Takes Gin Rummy to a whole new level

Skarney-- The most sophisticated scoring rummy.


---Download
FREE game
   books!---

A to Z of Dice Games -- rules for many great dice games (55 pages)

American Hoyle by Trumps 1894 (540 pages)

Foster’s Hoyle 1897 (625 pages)

Pirate Bridge -- great 3-person Bridge variant from 1917 (190 pages)

Conquian -- ancestor to modern rummy 1913 (90 pages)


---Scoring
   Rummies---
 
 500 Rummy

 500 Partnership

 Persian Rummy

 Fortune Rummy

 Arlington

 Arlington Hghts

 Skarney


---Gins---

 Oklahoma Gin

 Sequence Gin

 Skarney Gin


--Bezique
  Family--

Marjolet -- 2 players with 32 cards

Bezique -- 64 cards

Polish Bezique -- 64 card variant

Rubicon Bezique -- 128 cards

Zetema -- a long lost related game

BBC rules for all
forms of Bezique


--Rare Card
   Games--

Bridgette -- Best two-handed Bridge variant.  Compare it to Jo-Jotte

Bid Whist -- Unique whist variant popular among African Americans.

Eleusis Express -- famous unique inductive logic game.


--Historic
  Card
  Games--

Historic British Card Games-- rules for 12 once-popular games no longer played.

Medieval and Renaissance card and dice games.


--Fascinating
     Profiles---

Ely Culbertson--
He made Contract Bridge famous.

Al Sobel on the invention of Jo-Jotte

John Scarne--
Houdini’s friend, card magician, author, games inventor.

The rather odd and interesting story of the United States Playing Card company.


-- Original
   card,
   dice &
   domino
   games--

Pips web site

Invented card games


--Hundreds
   more
   games!--

The Card Games Web Site

Domino Game Rules

International Bone Rollers Guild


---PC Games--

Products to which we have no commercial ties but recommend:

Curtis Cameron offers fine 42 and Moon programs.

Cardmaster offers 25 games including Zetema, Bezique, Klabberjass, and Bid Whist.

Here’s Bid Whist online or on your PC.


--Domino
   Games--

Domino Euchre--the card game played with dominoes!

Call-Ace Euchre-- domino Euchre variant

42 -- the parent game

The Big Game -- 42 with 11 tricks instead of 7

42 Variations -- including 80, 88, 84, 79, Nello, Plunge, and Sevens

Moon -- 3 player relative to 42

Partnership Moon -- 4 player Moon


---Favorite
   Sites---

The Card Games site has the most card games rules anywhere

PokerBlog offers news, tips, satire and fun for Poker fans.

Playing Cards site has playing card history and pictorial examples.

House of Cards has a nice mix of rules, PC games, handheld games, and books.

Kadon Enterprises sells beautiful quality board games

Find hundreds of chess variants here

The Life of Games is an online games magazine

DominoLinks site links to many domino sites

(this is not an ad)

Sometimes called the national game of Texas, 42 is one of the truly great trick-taking games.   Texas family gatherings often involve day-long 42 games, and it’s no wonder as you’ll find once you try it.   The game is addictive.   Somehow it seems that a trick-taking game with only 28 playing pieces should be easier to master!

This page gives you the rules to 42 and all its variations.  We start with the rules for “standard 42.”   Then we give rules to our favorite variation, called The Big Game.    After this we provide rules to all other games in the “42 family,” and we list the bidding variations outside of standard 42 you may sometimes encounter.  We conclude with the rules for Moon, a 3-person game that is usually considered part of the 42 family.

Goal--

The goal in 42 is to win the bid for a hand, then fulfill the bid by scoring at least the number of points stated in the bid.   The first partnership to win at least 250 points across hands wins the sitting.

The Deck and Deal--

Four players pair off into two opposing partnerships.  Use a standard 6-6 set of dominoes. See our dominoes background page if you’re not familiar with the tiles in a domino set.

After shuffling all tiles face-down, each player takes 7.  Thus all dominoes are in the players’ hands and none are left over.

Since 42 is a “card game played with dominoes,” it requires a suit system. There are 7 suits in 42.   Each tile is a member of the two suits on its face, except for the doubles, which are only members of the single suit number on their face.   The doublets rank highest in each suit--

Scoring--

Each player has 7 tiles in hand, so 7 tricks are played in a 42 hand.  Each trick is worth one point.   Five special tiles called counters are worth extra points when won in tricks--

So the two tiles whose spots total 5 are worth 5 points each when won in tricks. The two tiles whose spots total 10 are worth 10 points each when won in tricks.

The game is called “42” because there are 42 points to win in each hand -- 7 points for the tricks, 15 points for the three 5-point tiles, and 20 points for the two 10-point tiles.

Bidding--

After all players have their tiles, bidding begins.  The person to the left of the shuffler or “dealer” bids first.  Bidding then proceeds clockwise around the table.

Each person has only one chance to bid.  So you’ll go around the table clockwise, and each person in turn will either make a single bid or pass.  The minimum bid is 30 points.  After a bid is made, the person(s) following the bidder must either (1) make a higher bid or (2) pass. 

If no one bids, the hand is thrown in and the role of shuffler or “dealer” goes clockwise to the next person.

If there is a bid winner, this person announces the trump suit.  The trump suit may be any of the suits in the first table above: 6’s, 5’s, 4’s, 3’s, 2’s, 1’s, or blanks.  

The bid winner may also declare that there will be no trump suit.  This is called a no trump or follow-me bid.   In this case there is no trump suit for this hand as the tricks are played.

Finally, the bid winner may declare that doubles are trump.  This means that all doublets are a suit of their own, and that this suit is trump. The doubles in the doubles suit rank in this order, from highest to lowest:  6-6,  5-5,  4-4,   3-3,  2-2,   1-1,  0-0.

Every domino that has the trump suit number on its face is a member of the trump suit for this hand -- and not a member of any other suit.  For example, if 4’s are trump, the rank of all tiles in the trump suit is:  4-4,  4-6,   4-5,  4-3,   4-2,  4-1,   4-0.  These tiles are only members of the trump suit for this hand.

Play--

The bid winner leads any tile he likes to the first trick.   If the tile is a member of the trump suit, then all others must play a trump to the trick if possible.  Otherwise, they can play any tile.

If the tile led is not a trump, then the higher number on the tile dictates the suit of the lead.  So leading a 6-4 domino, for example, means leading the third highest 6-suit tile (ranking after the 6-6 and 6-5, assuming none of these are trump suit tiles).

Unless the doubles suit is trump, leading a double is a lead of the suit number shown on the doublet.    If the doubles suit is trump, then leading a doublet means leading a trump suit tile.

Each trick is won by the highest-ranking trump tile played, if any.  If no trump is played to the trick, the trick is won by the highest tile of the suit led.

If a player can not follow suit to the lead, he may play any tile.

As tricks are won, they are moved to the side of the player who won them.  Unlike many card and domino games, these tiles are all left face-up.

Scoring the Hand--

Each side totals the number of tricks they won (at 1 point per trick), plus their 5 and 10 point counter tiles.  If the bidding team made at least the number of points they bid, they score those points. Their opponents score whatever points they have won.

If the bidding team does not make their bid, they get no points for the hand.  Their opponents score both the value of the original bid plus the points they scored in the hand.

The first team to attain at least 250 points across hands wins the sitting.

More on Bidding--

If you think you can win every trick, you can bid 84 (instead of 42).  This gives you 84 points if you win every trick in the hand, but doubles your opponent’s score -- and your loss -- if they win even a single trick in that hand.

If someone bids 84, others are allowed to follow with bids of 126, 168, and Game.  For the bid of Game, the entire game rides on this single hand.

Instead of totaling points, some players prefer to score 1 mark for each hand won.   The first team to 7 marks across hands wins the sitting.   An 84 bid would be 2 marks, a 126 bid is 3 marks, and a 168 bid is 4 marks.

Strategy--

In bidding, identify your potential trump suit simply by looking for the suit number that appears on the most tiles in your hand.  Doublets are like Aces in card games -- high tiles that typically win tricks if led early in the hand.

Carefully analyze whether you can expect to win each of the counter tiles:
the 6-4, 5-5, 0-5, 1-4, and 3-2. 

You have only one chance to bid. You must acquire the skill to make a single, accurate bid. Winning the bid but not the hand is a disaster, as the penalty for missing a bid is severe.  On the other hand, if you don’t win some bids you won’t win the Game.

During play, your goals are straightforward:

         *  Try to win a trick to get the lead
         *  Play your doubles or high trumps when you have the lead
         *  Feed your count dominoes to your partner whenever it appears certain
             he will win the trick 

Enhanced Rules--

None.  These rules conform to those given in the standard reference book on the game, Winning 42 by Dennis Roberson.  Some 42 rules state that the bid winner must lead a trump suit tile to the first trick. This is incorrect and artificially restricts play. You may also hear of special bids (bidding variations) such as Nell-o, Sevens, Plunge, and others.  These degenerate the game, though experienced players sometimes enjoy them for variety. We recommend The Big Game instead, described below.

For Further Information--

See the book Winning 42: Strategy and Lore of the National Game of Texas by Dennis Roberson. It’s got strategy and fascinating historical trivia, in addition to authoritative game rules.

42 players sometimes play special bids to liven up their game.   Here's a better way.  This 42 variant uses a larger domino set.  This leads to a game with 11 tricks (instead of 7) and two more counters. This makes for a longer, more interesting and complex game.

This game is our own invention and has proved popular among experienced 42
players.   Try it and send us your feedback at webmasterA at domain name, CardsAndDominoes.com.

Rules--

All rules in The Big Game are the same as standard 42 (as explained above) except --

(1)  Play with an 8-8 set of dominoes.

       You can create an 8-8 set by taking a 9-9 set and removing the ten tiles with 9s on them. 
       This leaves a 45-tile 8-8 set. 

(2)  The counters are still all tiles of weight 5 or 10.

       (This adds 2 more counters worth ten each: the 7-3 and 8-2).

       Counters are thus:  0-5,  1-4,  2-3,  4-6,  5-5,  7-3,  8-2.

(3)  In the deal, each of the four players takes 11 tiles each.  One tile is not dealt and is left
       face-down.

(4)  The minimum starting bid is 42.   Bidding proceeds clockwise, and players continue in the
       bidding process until they pass.  (Unlike 42, players may make more than one bid, until
       they pass.)   A Game is 400 points across hands.

(5)  The bid winner looks at the one tile left over face-down from the deal.   If it is a Counter, he
       must take it into his hand.  If it is not a Counter, he may take it into his hand.  If the bid
       winner takes the tile into his hand, he discards face-down some other non-counter tile to
       take his hand back down to 11 tiles.  Thus all counters are always in play.

(6)  If either of the "new" counter tiles are led to a trick (the 3-7 or the 2-8), the person who
       leads the tile may optionally announce that the lower number on the tile is the suit of the
       trick.  So you can lead the 3-7 to the trick as a 3-suit tile (the third highest tile in the 3’s
       suit), and lead the 2-8 as the second highest tile in the 2’s suit.

       This rule only applies to leads of the 3-7 or 2-8, only when announced by the trick leader,
       and only when these tiles are not members of the trump suit.

Strategy and Analysis--

Strategy in the Big Game is the same as in 42.   The difference is that you have 11 tricks instead of 7, and two more counters are out.  This makes the game more complex.

If you are clever, you may be able to lead the 3-7 and 2-8 in mid- game and win tricks with them by declaring them 3’s suit and 2’s suit tiles, respectively (see rule (6) above).

Since tricks are worth 1 point each, 66 total points are out in the Big Game--

This statistical analysis of the Big Game shows that its point distribution is the same as 42’s--

For Further Information--

Email the inventor of this game at user id webmasterA at the domain CardsAndDominoes.com.  We’d love to hear your comments!

Since 42 is often played at Texas family gatherings, there are a number of variants that attempt to allow more people to play together.  These are less popular than standard 42 (rules above), but they are lots of fun in group settings--

You’ll sometimes hear about special bids in 42.    The most common are Nel-O, Plunge, and Sevens. While these can be entertaining, we agree with expert Dennis Roberson that they really detract from the pure beauty of the standard game.   We recommend The Big Game if you feel the need for something beyond standard 42.    Here are rules for the special bids--

Moon is usually considered part of the “42 family” of domino games, but it’s really a bit different because there are no counter tiles in Moon.    Instead, each trick is valued at 1 point.

Moon is for three players.   They use a 6-6 set of dominoes with all tiles having blanks stripped out, except for the 0-0 tile.  So you use 22 tiles (all non-blank tiles plus the 0-0).  Each of the three players takes 7 tiles, leaving one face down for the widow.

The suit system in Moon is the same as in 42.  As in 42, each player has one chance to bid or pass.   Bidding starts at 4 and can go as high as 7 (since each trick counts for 1 point and there will be 7 tricks played).   You can also bid 21 for Game.  A bid to take all tricks is called shooting the moon.

The bid winner announces the trump suit and optionally discards one tile and picks up the widow.   He then leads any tile to the first trick.   Rules of following and play are the same as in 42.

If the bidder makes his bid or more, he scores his bid.    If he does not make his bid, he is set and subtracts the bid from his score.    Each opponent always scores the number of tricks he or she takes.

Strategy--

Moon differs from 42 in that there are no counters and all tricks are worth 1 point each.  The two players opposing the bid winner form a natural, temporary alliance for the hand.

The purpose to winning the bid is to drive the hand by your leads that force suit control on your opponents.   The same hand can be powerful or weak depending on the suits the tricks are played in.

The 0-0 is unique. Since it comprises a full suit itself, it wins any trick when led, and loses any trick otherwise.  When you have the lead, play it if you hold it.
 

Moon can also be played by four players in two opposing partnerships.  Use the full double six dominoes deck. Three tricks is the lowest permissible bid. 

If the partnership that wins the bid makes their bid, they win the hand and score points for all the tricks they took.   If they fail to make their bid, they score minus the amount of their bid.  Note that  scores can go negative on losing bids.   The players opposing the bidders always score the number of tricks they take.

The first partnership to 21 points wins the game.  Best of three games wins the match.

Gin Rummy or Gin is among the best two-handed card games.  It features the simplicity of rummy combined with genuine strategic depth. 

Gin was invented by Elwood T. Baker and played by his family back in 1910. Then it was forgotten.   Baker’s son Graham was astonished to find the game being played at New York clubs in the 1930s.  Somehow the game had survived or resurfaced after two decades!   Gin became a fad in the early 1940s, probably because film stars adopted it as their favorite.

John Scarne was a magician who befriended Houdini, mobsters, and Presidents. Along the way he invented some classic card games.   His life was full -- and so interesting he wrote not one but two autobiographies.  Read his fascinating story here.

Scarne took standard Gin and enlivened it with more varied melds, a contract meld requirement, and direct interaction between opponents through new discard rules. Scarne called his creation Skarney Gin.  While based on Gin Rummy, Skarney Gin is a very different more sophisticated game.   We’ve really enjoyed it.  Try it if you like Gin Rummy. 

First we’ll summarize the rules for our favorite version of standard Gin Rummy, called Oklahoma Gin. Then we give rules to a variant called Sequence Gin, and finally we give you the rules to the high-end Skarney Gin.

Oklahoma Gin--

This is a game with a 52-card deck for two players.  Cards rank A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K. The Ace is always the low card.  Card values are--

             10 points each                                10, J, Q, K
             Point value equals the card rank       A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

The goal in a Hand is to be first to meld all the cards in your hand to go out (go gin). Or to meld enough cards such that the value of those left is less than or equal to the value of the turn-up card, and also less than the value of your opponent’s unmelded cards.  

The goal for Game is to be the first player to 100 points across hands.

Valid melds are either--

             1.  3 or 4 cards of the same rank
             2.  A sequence of 3 or more cards in the same suit

Deal each player 10 cards each.  Turn one card face-up to start the discard pile.  The remaining face-down cards become the draw pile.

In his turn, each player---

             1.  Takes one card into his hand.  This may either be the top card of
                   the discard pile, or the top card from the draw pile.
             2.  If he wants to or can, he goes out (thereby ending the hand).
             3.  Discards one card face-up on top of the discard pile.  Unless mutually
                   agreed otherwise, cards in the discard pile should be squared up so
                   that only the single topmost card is visible.

There are two ways to go out--

             1.    Going gin, whereby all cards in the hand have been melded.
             2.    Melding all cards in hand but with remaining non-melded cards
                   having a total value of less than or equal to that of the original
                   turn-up card that started the discard pile.  This is called knocking.

When a player goes gin, he scores a 20 point gin bonus, plus the total value of all unmelded cards in his opponent’s hand.

When a player knocks, he places his hand face-up on the table.   His opponent then shows his own melds, and is allowed to meld any unmatched cards (if possible) on the melds of the player who knocked.

Total the remaining unmatched cards for each player. If the player who knocked has a total less than that of his opponent, he scores the total value of unmatched cards of his opponent.  If the player who knocked has a total greater than or equal to that of his opponent, he has been under-knocked.  The opponent scores a 20 point under-knocking bonus, plus the difference in value between the two hands.

When a player goes out, either by gin or by knocking, he optionally discards to conclude his hand.

Sequence Gin--

In this variant of our own invention, players may only meld sequences (not 3 or 4 of a kind).  All other rules are the same as those above.

Optional rules-- Score a bonus of -1 point per card for each card in a sequence of 6 cards or more (called long sequences). Score a bonus of -1 per card for any face cards in what are called royal sequences.  Bonus melds do not apply to whether one can knock or whether an under-knock occurs.  They apply only to calculating the final score.

Skarney Gin--

Skarney Gin adds an extra meld to Oklahoma Gin.  The poker meld is a set of cards in sequence (they do not have to be in the same suit).  So there are three kinds of melds in Skarney Gin--

         1. Set                (3 or 4 of a kind)
         2. Sequence       (3 or more cards in suit in sequence)
         3. Poker Meld     (3 or more cards in sequence, regardless of suits)

Aces can be either high or low in melds. So you can play A-2-3 or Q-K-A.  You can not make “round the corner” melds with Aces, such as K-A-2.

The first meld a player makes in each hand must be his contract meld.   The contract meld consists of exactly three 3-card melds.  The melds may be any combination of 3-of-a-kind sets, 3-card same-suit sequences, or 3-card poker melds.   After a player lays down his contract meld, in subsequent turns he may lay off either one or two cards on each of his melds on the table. He can not lay off cards on his opponent’s melds.  Of course, the player can also lay down any new melds he likes (each consisting of three or more cards).

Play differs from regular Gin in that there is no “discard pile.”  (After dealing cards to each player, you do not turn up a card to start the discard pile.)   Instead of discarding, a player holds up one card from his hand and offers it to his opponent. The opponent may say “I’ll take it,” and put it into his hand. If the opponent rejects the card, the player must put it back into his own hand.

A player can not offer to his opponent the same card he just accepted from his opponent in the prior turn. If the pro-offered discard is an Ace, and the player accepts it, that player loses his draw from the draw pile on his next turn.

When a player has only 1 card left in his hand, he does not offer a potential discard to his opponent. Instead, he just says “last card” and keeps that card in his hand.

Scoring differs from regular Gin in that Aces are worth 15 points (instead of 1 point).  A player who goes gin receives the total value of all cards in his opponent’s hand (regardless of whether they are meldable or not).  The player who goes out does not receive any points for cards his opponent has already melded to the table. 

Going gin also scores a gin bonus of 20 points.  This doubles to 40 points if the opponent has not yet put his required contract meld to the table.

Since Skarney Gin does not have a discard pile, you must go out by melding all cards in your hand without a discard.

There is no knocking in Skarney Gin. The hand ends by a gin.  If players draw all the way through the deck (with the exception of the last two cards, which are never drawn), the hand ends without the last player offering a potential discard. The player holding the lower total value for unmelded cards in his hand scores the difference in the unmelded point totals.

A Game is 200 points or more across hands.

Strategy--

As you’ve probably guessed, this game is way different from standard Gin!

The number of cards in a player’s hand varies during a hand. There is no knocking, only gin (or else the hand ends when the draw pile is exhausted). And there is the presence of a third meld, the poker straight in which cards are in sequence but not in suit.

Poker straights are often easier to extend than sets or sequences in one suit.

You’ll have to think very carefully about when to lay down your contract meld. Too early and you could end up stuck with a single card in hand and little flexibility. Too late, and your opponent may gin and catch you with all cards in hand. Remember that all cards in hand count against you if your opponent gins (whether matched or not).  And, only cards in hand count in the scoring (cards melded to the table are not part of the score).

Enhanced Rules--

We’ve simplified by leaving out Scarne’s system for scoring Games for the purposes of settling.

For Further Information--

See John Scarne’s Encyclopedia of Card Games, one of the classic card game compendiums.  The book has a chapter on Skarney Gin and its rummy relative, Skarney.

More--

If you like Skarney Gin, you might also try Scarne’s partnership rummy, Skarney.

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